The first step of having a “Battle of the Wildcats” NFC Championship is complete.
Left guard Elgton Jenkins and the Green Bay Packers are the top seed in the NFC playoffs, while strong safety and special teams standout Juantavius “JT” Gray and the New Orleans Saints are the No. 2 seed. Both are 2014 Clarksdale High School graduates and went on to be roommates and teammates at Mississippi State.
The Packers earned a first-round bye and the Saints will be hosting the Chicago Bears at 3:40 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
With each conference adding seventh team to playoffs, this is the first time the No. 2 seed will not have a bye in first round.
I am from Chicago and grew up a Bears fan. However, I said repeatedly I would root for their biggest division rival the Packers when the two teams play as long as Jenkins is in Green Bay.
Now, we are in the playoffs and Gray is going against my hometown Bears. That means I will be rooting for the Saints on Sunday.
As I root for Gray and the Saints, while Jenkins and the Packers have the week off, it is a good time to reflect on Green Bay’s accomplishments in 2020.
Since only one team per conference has a bye, it makes the regular season the Packers had in 2020 extra special.
We have done our best to highlight Jenkins’ achievements in the Press Register and on our Facebook page. The league and fans throughout the nation took notice of his versatility and achievements by voting him as a starter on the NFC Pro Bowl team.
What I would like to take the opportunity to highlight here is how Jenkins made his teammates better. Offensive linemen rarely receive recognition when offensive players put up big numbers.
After all, there are no true statistics for offensive linemen. We can only do our best to see how few sacks they allow or how the athletes they are blocking on the defensive line perform.
But the Packers were one of the top offensive teams in the NFL and Jenkins played a major role in their success.
Green Bay finished the regular season 13-3 and never scored fewer than 24 points in their wins. The Packers defeated the Carolina Panthers 24-16 in Week 15 and the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 in Week 10.
Green Bay scored 30 or more points in the other 11 victories. The Packers scored 40 or more points four times with a 43-34 win against the Minnesota Vikings to open the season, a 42-21 win against the Detroit Lions in Week 2, a 41-25 win against the Chicago Bears in Week 12 and a 40-14 win against the Tennessee Titans in Week 16.
None of that happens if Jenkins and the offensive linemen are not doing their jobs.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a candidate to be the NFL MVP. There is no doubt Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks ever to play in the NFL, but he could not succeed without having good teammates around him.
Jenkins is one of those teammates protecting Rodgers, giving him time to throw the ball, find the open receiver and run with the ball when necessary.
I believe Jenkins plays one of the two toughest positions on the offensive line. He is versatile, but his main position, the left guard, is responsible for protecting Rodgers’ blind side.
If an assignment is messed up with one of the linemen on Rodgers’ right side, he can see the problem and adjust during the play.
When it comes to the linemen on Rodgers’ left side, for the most part, he just has to trust them to protect him.
Jenkins has not betrayed that trust. He has made Rodgers better at his position. Rodgers finished the season with a 70.72 completion percentage for 4,299 yards, 48 touchdown passes and just five interceptions.
Rodgers was also sacked just 20 times. That is the fewest sacks against Rodgers in all of his seasons since becoming the starting quarterback in 2008. That says a lot for Jenkins and the other offensive linemen.
So as Gray and the Saints attempt to get past the Bears this weekend and we wait to see Jenkins and the Packers’ opponent in the NFC Divisional Playoff, let us all root for both teams to succeed.
We should root for the Saints and the Packers to play one another in the NFC Championship and have a “Battle of the Wildcats.” Jenkins and the Packers won 37-30 the first time the two teams played in Week 3 in New Orleans. I would expect another close game if we have another “Battle of the Wildcats” for the NFC Championship in Green Bay on Jan. 24.
If we do have another “Battle of the Wildcats,” I will root for both Jenkins and Gray to succeed and be happy with either team winning.
